Liquid-testing device.



110,744,123. f PATENTBD-.NOV.17,190s.

V. SPIETS'GHKA.

LIQUID TESTINGDEVIC, AFPLIQA'FLOBI FILED JAN-17,1903.

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UNrrnD STATES Patented November 17, 1903.

VINZENZ SPlETSCl-IKA, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

uomo-TESTING DEVICE.

.SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 744,123, datedNovember 17, 1903. Application led January 17, 1903. Serial No. 139,474.(No model.)

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, ViNZENZ SPIETSGHKA, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county ofCuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain newpand usefulImprovements in Liquid Testing Devices; and I do declarel that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same.

My invention relates to liquid-testing de-V vices; and the inventionconsists in a device adapted to be used substantially as shown anddescribed, and particulary pointed ont in the claims.

conned in tanks or receptacles and especially adapted herein forascertaining the condition of beer in the period or process offermentation when repeated or varied tests or examinations are requiredto note the progress of fermentation. Hitherto such tests orexaminations have been exceedingly tedious and laborious for ythe reasonvthat there was no apparatus provided for this purpose but such asrequired the party conducting the same to climb up the side of each andevery tank examined, iirst to obtain a dip or sample of the contents ofthe tank from as 'great a depth as hew could reach with a long-handleddipper and then climb down again to subject the same to tests by asacrometer. Then he had to ,climb up again* and return his sample to thetank, and the same operation had to be repeated when the temperature Wasto be taken. Now considering that there may be all the Way from ten ortwenty to several hundred tanks in a single brewery, according to itssize, the aggregate labor involved in this very primitive manner ofascertaining conditions obviously Was very considerable and in the endexpensive; but bythe use of my new and improved device all this slow andtedious operation is done away with and means are provided which accomfplish'the same results in a much more satisfactory and accurate mannerand with only a fraction of the time formerly required.

To these ends the invention consists of a transparent tube or pipe Awith a bore, say, of an inch and a half across and supported at itslower end in an elbow or equivalent joint B, and a thimble C, threadedinto said joint and providing a seat for said tube. A cap D with apreferably flaring mouth is supported on the upper end of the tube A,and 'rods E I connect said cap with thimble C and serve to complete whatis substantially a framework for the glass tube and which not onlyrenders said tube available for use, but also affords protection againstinjury. Thimble Chas an inwardly-extending flange 2 at its lower end,anda gasket 3 thereon forms a close seat for the tube, and with a gasket4, packing thimble C in joint B, no liquid can leak out at these points.Tube A is wide open at both ends, and joint B has a passage open to tubeA and provided with a cutoff valve G to control the iioW of liquid intotube .A from tank T. A short pipe H or equivalent means connects joint Bwith the tank, and a Waste-valve and outlet N are provided at the bottomof union B.

The device as an article of manufacture and use is comprised in thecombined parts substantially as shown and is adapted to be carried fromtank to tank for making tests, or each tank may be equipped with adevice of its own; In any case the tanks are provided with pipeconnections H, and these connectiens are tapped into the tank at what isnot only a convenient elevation for conducting tests, but also wheremiddle or average conditions of the contents of the tank are mostcertainly obtained.

In operation and after having connected up the device with a tank valveG is turned IOC before only by climbing to the top of the tank severaltimes and down again, as alreadydescribed. These readings or testscontemplate the use of a sacrometer and thermometer to be dipped intothe liquid in said tube after piston P has been Withdrawn; but inaddition to this the transparent tube has the advantage of disclosing tothe eye the state of the beer as respects its clearness or cloudiness,which alone is a very material advantage in adevice of this kind.

When the examinations are finished, the piston P is used to force theliquid or beer back into the tank, so that there is no waste, andWhatever liquid remains in the joint below said piston can be let outthrough valve N. Having conducted an examination this way the device canbe detached and carried to the next tank, and so on through the brewery,or, as is more convenient, each tank can be provided with its owncomplete equipment, and this is preferred generally in breweries.

I might, of course, use a dark or non-transparent tube A; but that wouldcutoff all visible examinations or observations of the beer in the tubeitself, and in that ease also the minor details of construction here andthere might be modified, but without changing the essential character ofthe invention.

It will be understood that the chief use of piston P is to force theliquid in tube A back into the tank after a test. NVhen this has beendone, valve G is again opened, as it was before, to admit liquid to saidtube from the tank, and when testing instruments are to be inserted intotube A the piston P must first be Withdrawn. When tube A is removed, thethimble C is unscreWed and carried away with the tube. In a very truesense the said tube and its thimble and cap comprise or constitute anarticle of manufacture and use.

Piston P serves also to agitate the contents of the tank more or lessWhere it is tapped by running the piston up and down a few times, andthis gives an average sample of the beer.

Vhat I claim isl. A device adapted to be detachably oonnected withbeer-fermenting and other tanks, comprising a tube open at its upperend, a piston adapted to be inserted and removed through said open end,and a valve to control the iioW of fiuid into and out of said tubebeneath said piston, substantially as described.

2. The tube open at its top, a joint and a thimble detachably seated insaid joint and serving as a support for the tube, a cap on the tube andfixed connections between the cap and the thimble, whereby the saidparts are removable together from the joint, and a piston in said tubeand a rod therefor extending out through the cap on said tube, said tubebeing open to the outer air through said cap, substantially asdescribed.

Witness my hand to the foregoing specilication this 27th day ofDecember, 1902.

VINZENZ SPIETSCHKA.

Vitnesses:

R. B. MOSER, R. ZBORNIK.

